


almost home

by poppyharris



Category: Pan Am
Genre: F/M, Pining, bad singing, mid life crisis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-20
Updated: 2020-10-20
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:29:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27126553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/poppyharris/pseuds/poppyharris
Summary: dean needs olivia, ted needs singing lessons
Relationships: Dean Lowrey/Original Female Character, Laura Cameron/Ted Vanderway





	almost home

“we’ll be landing in tokyo shortly, olympians,” dean smiled as he spoke. he’d carried a lot of people on his planes, but delivering america’s finest to the olympic games? mind blowing.

a gentle knock at the door, and ted rolled his eyes. “don’t let her distract you, dean, for god’s sake,” ted mumbled, watching the skies. “karl, make sure she’s out of here by the time we make it seventy miles away, there’s a darling.”

dean rolled his eyes, but still preened a little. “come in!” he called, ted having to repress a snort at the deepening of dean’s voice. 

the stewardess poked her head around the door, and dean sat up a little higher when it turned out to be olivia, her hat slightly askew. “mike larrabee is asking if he can wear his hat during landing, or will it be fused to his head?” she was clearly struggling to maintain a straight face, tilting her head a little higher to try and stop herself from giggling.

“it won’t, offer him a drink on me,” dean slipped olivia a wink, who rolled her eyes, but still smiled. 

“alright, alright,” olivia leaned against the cockpit door, adjusting her hat. “ted, sweetie, can you make an announcement after we land for laura’s birthday? i think she thinks we’ve forgotten, but we’re taking her out tonight.” ted flushed a deep shade of red, before quickly nodding. 

“can uh, can i come out with you… guys tonight…?” he asked, a nervous smile on his face. 

olivia smiled, and nodded. “of course, dean, you comin’- coming?” she asked, taking a step backward as karl mumbled about the seventy mile warning. dean nodded, nudging ted to get the pre-landing checklist out. “see you tonight, then!” she called out, before shutting the door. loud giggles managed to permeate through the thick door, sounding suspiciously like maggie demanding to know what dean had said to her.

dean knew she flirted with everyone, but it didn’t stop the ache in his chest whenever he saw her. she breezed around a plane as if it was her home. and then dean would start thinking about a home for them together. and then he’d be caught staring and dean could feel his skin heat up under her gaze.

and then he’d be reminded of the time she sat on lewis’ lap and giggled until the cows came home. or when she sidled very closely up to a first class passenger and whispered in his ear. dean wasn’t her husband or even her boyfriend, but he couldn’t help but feel possessive. they’d been together since day one, her stumbling in her high heels and dean absolutely terrified he was about to crash the plane.

but they got through it together.

well, not together, no matter how much dean wanted to. even as the landing gear was deployed, dean wondered what would happen if he asked her out on a date. she’d probably giggle and politely decline. that was something he fucking hated about her. she was too nice. 

the landing was a little bumpier than usual, probably because both pilots were distracted by their stewardesses. they’d barely stopped before ted was grappling for the intercom, stammering out that the passengers were highly valued and he hoped they enjoyed their flight. a pause, then he began to sing a shaky rendition of happy birthday.

dean stared at ted, his jaw dropped. this was… beyond embarrassing. even karl hissed “we are pan am, not florence foster jenkins.”

ted finished his set, before clearing his throat and placing the receiver back in its holder. all the flight crew stayed in their seats, stunned by ted’s outburst. “i’m not giving up the day job,” ted’s voice had a hint of humour to it, but his face was still ashen.

a harsh rap at the door shocked everyone back into their duties, and dean quickly stood up, followed closely by ted tugging his bag out of the storage locker. “come in,” dean called, placing his cap back on his head.

maggie poked her head around the door, her tongue in her cheek as she stared at ted. “laura’s crying,” she snapped, before leaving the cockpit door swinging open. ted scratched the back of his neck, visibly gulping. 

“was it that bad?” he asked, dean didn’t respond, and karl quickly busied himself with his post-flight report. ted quickly hurried out of the cockpit, before trying to act casual as he went along the aisle.

“poor guy,” karl mumbled, picking up his folder. dean nodded sympathetically, eyeing up the band on karl’s finger.

“poor laura, she’s been going on for months about how excited she was to be assigned to this flight on her birthday,” dean was itching to go out, listen to the drama, maybe sidle up to oliva a bit. “or maybe she’s upset her only birthday wishes has been from ted vanderway of all people.”

karl snorted, packing his folder into his pan am case, before pulling out another bag and slinging it over his shoulder. “i’d be pretty upset if ted sang to me at the best of times.”

“you’ll be one short at your work outing tonight, me and laura are going out for a birthday meal,” ted snapped, standing in the doorframe, giving karl a hard look, before looking over at dean. “happy tears, it meant so much to her.”

ted turned on his heel, and held out his arm for a teary laura. karl gave dean an incredulous look, before leaving him alone in the cockpit.

the silence hit dean like a brick. the buzz of stewardesses had disappeared, replaced only by the hum of the electrical systems steadily powering down. he suddenly felt like a rookie again after his first flight. the lead in his stomach didn’t disappear after touchdown, it only dissipated a little after he got a lot of whisky inside him.

was this what he wanted? he couldn’t be with the girl he loved, since she kept leading him around a maze of feelings. he couldn’t look out the window and say he was home, or that he felt safe. japan was unfamiliar to him, he’d only ever heard horror stories from the war. apparently they’d changed.

“oh! dean, i nearly locked you in!”

olivia’s voice tore dean from his self pity party. he didn’t even realise he’d been pressing his face against the cockpit window. 

“are you okay?”

was he okay? was he happy? no, not without her. he should do it, seize her, tell her he loved her, that he didn’t want to be apart for a second longer. bollocks to the company, he was going to marry the living shit out of her and she was going to take it. she’d be olivia lowrey before the end of the week.

he turned, seeing her gently rest her pan am bag on her waist. her black hair perfectly styled under her cap. dean had never worked out how the stewardesses were so shapely in their up and down suits, but olivia seemed to have the most defined curves out of any he’d ever seen.

dean was so fucking in love with her.

and olivia was so oblivious.

**Author's Note:**

> song: almost home by mxmtoon


End file.
